Gemstone jewelry with enhanced appearance

ABSTRACT

The appearance of gemstones, such as diamond, of various cuts is enhanced with a narrow non-planar strip of a reflective, color matched material, such as gold with yellow gems or platinum with clear gems, is peripherally positioned around the visible portion of the gemstone in a setting. A realistic multiple reflective optical illusion is created of a larger size gemstone. The appearance of a gemstone is also visually enhanced in a ring setting with the band of the ring being constructed of separated ring elements which permit additional ambient light to strike the normally hidden lower and lateral portions of the gemstone and increase sparkle. Optionally, connecting members between the separated ring elements incorporate monograms or design. The invention includes the jewelry items of gemstones and settings having the enhanced appearances of size and/or increased sparkle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to enhancing the appearance of gemstones, andparticularly to enhancing the size and sparkle appearance of gemstonessuch as diamonds in presentation jewelry settings such as rings,pendants, bracelets, brooches and the like.

Gemstones are almost always worn or displayed in jewelry settings whichare designed to enhance appearance. The most common of such settings anddisplays are rings, pendants, bracelets, brooches and the like andtypical expedients for enhancing settings include the decorative use ofsurrounding a large central gemstone with smaller gems or chips ofsmaller sizes or of different cuts such as baguettes. Precious metals,such as gold and platinum, most commonly provide the base settings.Other expedients for enhancing appearance include the use of settings ormountings which elevate the gemstones to provide a larger appearance orthe use of different gem cuts which enhance sparkle or brilliance. Sinceappearance with respect to jewelry is paramount, measures which provideillusions of enhanced or increased size, innovative decorative settings,and improved gem sparkle or brilliance are prized.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

It is accordingly an object of the present disclosure to provide amethod and a setting element for gemstones, such as diamonds, whichprovides the realistic illusion of a significantly larger gemstone.

It is a further object of the present disclosure to provide settingelements for gemstones which are matched in general color to that of thegemstones and which are non-planar to provide efficient reflectiveinteraction with facets of the gem to make the gemstone appear larger.

It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a setting forgemstones such as diamonds which enhances the appearance of the gemstoneby increasing the sparkle of the gemstone under ambient light.

It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide suchincreased sparkle by providing a holding setting of the gemstone withone or more openings to permit increased ambient light to strike theunderside of the gemstone normally not viewably exposed.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will become more evident from the following discussion anddrawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a round yellow diamond in a setting havingperipheral diamond chips and the size enhancing setting element of thepresent invention;

FIG. 1 a is a side view of the setting element shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a ring with a setting having an octangularyellow diamond gemstone;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a ring with a setting having an emerald cutwhite diamond gemstone;

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b are partial front views of pendant settings fortriangle and pear shaped diamond gemstones;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a bracelet setting for a cushion shapeddiamond gemstone;

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of a ring comprised of substantiallyseparated elements;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the ring of FIG. 6 (with both right and leftside views being symmetrically identical);

FIGS. 8 and 9 are views similar to those of FIGS. 6 and 7 but of a ringof different design, with separated ring elements, a setting without themain gemstone and with fitted translucent small gemstone fitted into theseparations between the separated ring elements;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are views similar to those of FIGS. 6 and 7 but of aring of different design with separated ring elements, with a series oftapered progressively smaller gemstones fitted into a gold insert withinthe separation between the separated ring elements; and

FIGS. 12 and 13 are views similar to those of FIGS. 10 and 11 butwithout the side fitted gemstones.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Generally the present disclosure comprises a gem setting and a methodtherefore for enhancing gemstone appearance, such as a diamond, inarticles of jewelry by causing an optical perception of increased sizeand/or enhancing the sparkle of the gemstone. The present inventionfurther comprises the gemstone settings and articles of jewelry withgemstones having such enhanced appearance. In accordance with thepresent invention a visible exposed surface of a gemstone having alateral contour (determined by the particular cut of the gemstone) isclosely surrounded by a length of a narrow strip of a reflectivematerial such as of a precious metal of platinum or gold having anexposed non-planar reflective surface. It is understood that reflectivematerials of non-precious metals and the like are similarly operable inaccordance with the present invention but in keeping with the value andcachet of jewelry it is preferred that precious materials be used. Thelength of the narrow strip follows at least a portion of the contourwith the side of the narrow strip closely abutting the contour andpreferably completely surrounds the visibly exposed surface of thegemstone whereby the exposed non-planar reflective surface of the narrowstrip provides a lateral extension of the visibly exposed surface of thegemstone. The width of the narrow strip across the reflective surface ispreferably between about 0.2 to 0.6 mm and is regularly non-planar witha repeated uniform pattern, preferably along its length, such as with acontinuous sinusoidal type pattern of flats and troughs. If overallsymmetry is not required, such as with non symmetrical gemstones, thenon planer configuration may be appropriately and correspondinglynon-regular or asymmetrical.

To further enhance the size enhancement appearance as an extension ofthe gemstone, the color of the narrow strip is approximately matched tothat of the gemstone with, for example, yellow gold being used with ayellow diamond and platinum being appropriately used with colorlessgemstones. Other colored gemstones can be matched to the gray ormirror-like reflective platinum. The color matched reflective strip ispositioned adjacent the exposed surface of the gemstone and preferablydirectly adjacent a line on the gemstone such as the girdle line of theexposed portion of a diamond, whereby its non-planar surface efficientlyreflectively interacts with the facets of the diamond or other gemstoneto create an optical illusion of a larger size gemstone. With the stripsize width of from 0.2 to 0.6 mm, the exposed surface diameter of thediamond or other gemstone is increased in size, by perception, by fromabout 0.4 to 1.2 mm.

Depending on the cut of the gemstone, this can provide a significantillusional increase in size of, for instance, from the appearance of afour and a half carat gemstone to that of a six carat gemstone or aboutan additional third of the original gemstone size.

The dimensional parameters of the narrow strip are generally functionsof perception in a particular setting and are specifically related tothe eye being able to discern the narrow strip as being separate fromthe gemstone. Thus, a greater width of the strip which tends toperceptibly separate the strip as a separate element or deviations fromplanar which are too little or too much and which do not appropriatelyreflectively interact with the gems facets (which may also be a functionof the cut of the gemstone) to provide appropriate reflectiveintermeshing, is to be avoided. A planar strip is however simplydecorative and does not provide the interactive reflectivity requiredfor the optical illusion of greater size.

Though ideally the narrow strip should completely peripherally surroundthe gemstone, in settings where chips are directly set against thecentral gemstone or where there is little or no room for a fullperipheral narrow strip, the strip may be partial rather than completelycircumferential (or peripherally enclosing) to at least symmetricallyenhance size appearance of portions of the central gemstone.

In another aspect of the present invention, with the central gemstoneand smaller stones or chips which may surround it, particularly in aring setting, the ring (or other supporting member or setting) islaterally split into separate elements to permit ambient light to enterthe separation between the elements and strike the sides or underside ofthe gemstones to increase sparkle. In embodiments of the presentinvention, the separations or splits in themselves provide settings foradditional chips, which are transparent or translucent and which permitthe ambient light to pass through them for the requisite sparkleenhancement and increased ornamentation appearance. Alternatively, thespacing may be filled with decorative inserts of precious metal such asgold or platinum, with or without imbedded small gems. If the ringelements comprise total splits into separate members then a webconnector or one or more bridging element are necessary to keep the ringfrom falling apart. In such embodiments, the web element may be furtherornamented with monograms or designs which may be dictated by thedesigner for identification (with an imparted cachet) or by thepurchaser for personalization.

With specific reference to the drawings, FIGS. 1-5 depict variousembodiments of gemstone settings with the narrow strip elements orstrips of the present invention. Round yellow diamond 10 is shown inFIG. 1 in a generic jewel setting 11. Diamond 10 is surrounded by smallchips 13 which are spaced therefrom by narrow non-planar circular strip12 made of a generally matching yellow gold.

The non-planar nature of the narrow strip 12 is more clearly seen inFIG. 1 a , wherein strip 12 has troughs 12 a and flats 12 b. Strip 12 isshown as being peripherally adjacent the girdle section 10 a of diamond10 for maximum reflective effect. Though FIG. 1 clearly shows ademarcation between the center diamond 10 and strip 12 the actual visualeffect with real reflections, not perceptible in drawing depiction, isthat of the strip 12 blending into the appearance of the diamond 10 bymultiple reflections of the facets with an optical effect of a largerthan actual size diamond.

FIGS. 2 and 3 depict rings 21 and 31 with center yellow and whitediamonds 20 and 30 respectively of octangular and emerald cutsrespectively. The respective non-planar narrow strips 22 and 32 followthe contours of the respective diamonds with the strips being outwardlyand adjacently surrounded by diamond chips 23 and 33 respectively.Similarly the pendants 41 and 51 of FIGS. 4 a and 4 b having centerwhite and yellow gemstones 40 and 50 of triangle and pear shaperespectively have non planar strips 42 and 52 which adjacently followthe contours of the respective gemstones 40 and 50. It is preferred forenhanced reflectivity and appearance that the narrow strip be adjacentto gemstones on all of its visible sides. FIG. 5 shows a braceletsetting 61 with a cushion shaped yellow center gemstone diamond 60surrounded by non planar narrow yellow strip 62 which is in turnsurrounded by diamond chips 63. It is understood that the diamond chipsneed not be color matched to the center gemstone or narrow strip and aregenerally clear. It is also understood that the enhanced configurationis possible with any type of gemstone based jewelry having a similarsetting and configuration of gemstones.

FIGS. 6 and 7 depict various views of ring 71. The band of the ring iscomprised of separated elements 74 a and 74 b of gold which arelaterally connected with yellow gold bridge members 75 a and 75 brespectively and a bottom web 76. As seen in FIG. 7, the side section 70a of central diamond 70 is fully accessible to ambient light through theopenings 77 on both right and left sides of the ring and through theclear diamond set between the separated elements. As a result, the lightcontinues through the transparent to translucent gemstone to increasethe sparkle and fire of the gemstone. The connecting web 76 at thebottom of the ring is modernistically configured with a monogram withsuch connecting web being readily replaceable for personalized use.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is a ring 81 shown with the opensetting seat 88 having an open bottom to permit exposed placement of anappropriately sized gemstone therein. The ring 81 is similar to the ringembodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 in overall structure but with smalltriangle diamond chips 88 being positioned within the openings 87 and isentirely of yellow gold. Because of the transparency of the diamondchips 88, ambient light is able to pass through the chips to the centergemstone (when emplaced) for increased sparkle.

Ring 91 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 has similar separated elements 94 a and94 b of platinum but with a centrally positioned yellow diamond 90 anddecorative white diamond chips 93 placed in series along the visiblecircumference of elements 94 a and 94 b. In this embodiment, theseparated elements 94 a and 94 b define side channels 97 into which agold insert 95 is placed and into which insert, round diamond chips 98are positioned in a row for decorative effect and the chips permittingambient light to pass therethrough for increasing the sparkle of centraldiamond 90.

The ring 100 of FIGS. 12 and 13 is similar to that of ring 91 of FIGS.10 and 11 but with a central white diamond 101 and without diamond chipsin gold insert 105. Instead lateral support frame 102 of gold andplatinum elements 102 a and 102 b has diamond chips 104 imbedded thereinto permit ambient light access throughout to increase sparkle of centraldiamond 101.

It is understood that the above discussion and embodiments are merelyexemplary of the present invention with changes being possible incomponents, structure and relative configurations without departing fromthe scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims.

1. A method for creating an optical appearance of a larger than actualgemstone size in a jewelry setting, comprising the steps of: i) causinga gemstone, in a jewelry setting, to have an exposed visible displaysurface with an external contour peripheral to the exposed surface; andii) positioning a length of a narrow reflective strip with a non planarexposed surface into the jewelry setting and with an inner side of thelength of the strip arranged to follow at least a portion of theexternal contour directly adjacent the exposed visible display surfaceof the gemstone.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the length of thenarrow reflective strip is positioned to follow the entire externalcontour of the exposed surface of the gemstone.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the gemstone is provided with facets and the narrowreflective strip is positioned to reflectively interact with the facetsto provide the optical appearance of a larger than actual gemstone size.4. The method of claim 3, wherein the width across the non planarsurface of the narrow reflective strip is in the range of from 0.2 to0.6 mm.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the non planar exposed surfaceof the narrow reflective strip is in the form of a sinusoidal-like waveextending along the length of the narrow strip.
 6. The method of claim5, wherein a color of the surface of the narrow reflective strip isgenerally matched with a color of the gemstone.
 7. The method of claim6, wherein a series of small gem stones are positioned to adjacentlyabut an outer side of the length of the narrow reflective strip.
 8. Themethod claim 7 wherein the gemstone is a diamond and the narrowreflective strip is comprised of a metal selected from gold andplatinum.
 9. An article of jewelry, comprising: a setting; a gemstoneheld by the setting and having an exposed visible display surface withan external contour peripheral to the exposed surface; and a narrowreflective strip with a non planar exposed surface directly adjacent theexposed visible display surface of the gemstone, with the length of thestrip arranged to follow at least a portion of the external contour toprovide an optical appearance of a larger than actual gemstone size. 10.The article of jewelry of claim 9, wherein the narrow reflective stripfollows the entire external contour of the exposed visible displaysurface of the gemstone.
 11. The article of jewelry of claim 10, whereinthe gemstone is provided with facets and the narrow reflective strip ispositioned to reflectively interact with the facets to provide theoptical appearance of a larger than actual gemstone size.
 12. Thearticle of jewelry of claim 9, wherein the width across the non-planarsurface of the narrow reflective strip is in the range of from 0.2 to0.6 mm.
 13. The article of jewelry of claim 9, wherein the non-planarexposed surface of the narrow reflective strip is in the form of asinusoidal wave extending along the length of the narrow reflectivestrip.
 14. The article of jewelry of claim 9, wherein a color of thenon-planar surface of the narrow reflective strip is generally matchedwith a color of the gemstone.
 15. The article of jewelry of claim 9,wherein the gemstone is a diamond and the narrow reflective strip iscomprised of a metal selected from gold and platinum.
 16. The article ofjewelry of claim 9, wherein an outer side of the length of the narrowreflective strip is closely surrounded by a series of small gem stones.17. The article of jewelry of claim 9, wherein the article of jewelry isone of a ring, a pendant, a brooch and a bracelet.
 18. An article ofjewelry with a setting and a support member for the setting with thesetting holding a gemstone having an exposed upper visible displaysurface and a lower non display portion wherein at least one of thesetting and the support member is comprised of separated parts with atleast one separation between the parts permitting ambient light tostrike the lower non-display portion to an extent sufficient to increasesparkle of the gemstone at the exposed upper visible display surface.19. The article of jewelry of claim 18, wherein the article of jewelryis a ring having a setting support member configured to be placed on afinger and wherein the setting support member is comprised of twoelements which individually surround the finger and support the setting,with the two elements being held together by at least one bridgingelement which holds the members apart to provide the separations whichpermit ambient light to strike the lower non-display portion of thegemstone.
 20. The article of jewelry of claim 19, wherein the bridgingelement is configured to depict a design or monogram.
 21. The article ofjewelry of claim 19, wherein at least one small gem stone is positionedwithin the separations and wherein the at least one small gemstonepermits ambient light to pass therethrough.